UN: Palestinians need protection

UN human rights experts called on the Security Council on Friday to approve an international protection force to end Israeli rights violations in occupied Palestinian lands.

26 Jun 2004 03:21 GMT

The UN says demolition of Palestinian homes is a violation

"We would urge the (UN) Security Council to authorise an international protection force in the occupied Palestinian territories to ensure that human rights violations cease," UN officials, monitors and independent experts said in a statement following a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

The text of the statement, which also condemned attacks against Israelis, voiced "strong concern regarding continuous violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories".

The UN human rights experts also strongly criticised "the practices of the Israeli authorities including targeted killings, excessive use of force during military incursions...arbitrary and long periods of incommunicado detention, torture and other forms of inhuman and degrading ill-treatment" by Israeli forces.

Previous recommendations

Such abuses continued "despite grave concerns repeatedly expressed by the international community", the statement said, recalling "previous recommendations from UN human rights mechanisms" on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The statement also condemned the Israeli policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, the destruction of civilian property, the massive confiscation and destruction of land, as well as restrictions on the freedom of movement.

The UN experts accused Israeli authorities of violating the human right to food, housing, water, health, education and work by restricting the movement of Palestinian civilians.

The statement concluded by urging Israel to meet its obligations under international law, and to fully cooperate with UN protection and monitoring mechanisms, including during visits mandated by the UN Commission on Human Rights.